The Chinese Government banned the Falun Gong cult because the
          Chinese people demanded action against it, a spokesman of the
          Information Office of the State
          Council said on January 15 in Beijing.  
         
          Before the ban, the spokesman said in an interview with Xinhua,
          people across the country called on the government to contain the
          spread of Falun Gong.
         
          On June 17, 1996, Guangming Daily, one of the leading newspapers in
          China, published an article saying that the book "Zhuan Falun"
          written by Li Hongzhi is based on pseudo-science. In April 1998,
          Qilu Evening News, a local newspaper published in Shandong Province,
          reported some Falun Gong practitioners who died of illness because
          they refused medical treatment. A month later, Beijing Television
          aired a segment about a doctoral candidate who became paralyzed when
          he was practicing Falun Gong. In April 1999, Chinese scientist He
          Zuoxiu criticized the Falun Gong in his article published by The
          Education College Journal of Tianjin Normal University.
         
          In retaliation, Li Hongzhi organized non-approved protests outside
          the TV station, newspaper office and college campus.
         
          To maintain social stability and protect people's life and property
          -- which is the government's main responsibility, the Chinese
          Government banned the Falun Gong cult on July 22, 1999 according to
          law, the spokesman said.
         
          The spokesman reiterated the government's policy on dealing with the
          members of Falun Gong, saying that the majority of Falun Gong
          practitioners were deceived by the cult and they should be educated
          to free themselves from the cult's spiritual shackles. Only a
          handful of backbone Falun Gong members have been punished for their
          violation of Chinese law.
         
          According to the Law on Gatherings, Parades and Demonstrations, said
          the spokesman, public demonstrations must have prior approval from
          the public security department. Falun Gong activists' recent
          gatherings at the Tian'anmen Square were not approved and are
          illegal. The cult members who traveled to Beijing to participate in
          illegal demonstration and resorted to violence were led away
          forcefully by police so that order could be restored quickly and
          tourists and visitors at the Tian'anmen Square could enjoy their
          sightseeing normally.
         
          As to those who were sent to labor camps, the spokesman pointed out,
          those who disturbed social order, refused to break their ties with
          the cult, or committed cult-related crimes would be sent to labor
          camps for transformation according to law. They were sent there not
          because they practiced Falun Gong but because they participated in
          illegal demonstrations that disturbed social order and the people's
          normal life as well.